Contemporary Cleopatras: the business ethics of female Egyptian managers

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore gender differences in ethical attitudes along two dimensions: perceived ethical strategies for career advancement, or upward‐influence ethics; and perceived ethical roles of business in society and the natural environment, or business social and environmental responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a variance decomposition procedure, the paper identifies substantive differences in the ethical perceptions of Egyptian male and female managers.

Findings

Female managers find more covert upward‐influence strategies – strategies that are less aboveboard and transparent – acceptable and eschew overt upward‐influence tactics – strategies that are aboveboard and transparent. Female managers also envision a larger role for business in society, particularly in terms of social responsibilities than do male managers.

Research limitations/implications

The study is exploratory, employing a small sample in a single country.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to ongoing debates about the role that a person's gender plays in influencing his/her ethical perspective, examining the issue in a developing country context. This paper's contribution is also methodological, demonstrating how variance decomposition can be used to examine these issues.

Citation

Riddle, L. and Ayyagari, M. (2011), "Contemporary Cleopatras: the business ethics of female Egyptian managers", Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 167-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/17537981111159957